As a related remote apparatus management method, Patent Document 1 discloses one example of a remote apparatus management method of making electronic apparatuses available via a LAN, for example. According to the related method of using electronic apparatuses via a LAN described in Patent Document 1, electronic apparatuses to be managed and a control terminal (which controls the electronic apparatus) are connected according to a specific protocol such that they can communicate with one another. Information outlets for conversion to a standard communication protocol are provided on connection paths between the electronic apparatuses and the control terminal, and the information outlets are connected through network communication being standard for communication among the information outlets. With such configuration, according to the remote apparatus management method described in Patent Document 1, an electronic apparatus having only an interface such as RS-232C or SCSI can be used from a remote place via a standard network such as Ethernet (TCP/IP). The “Ethernet” is a registered trademark.
As a related device using a remote apparatus management method, Patent Document 2 discloses one example of a device for mutually converting protocol data units in incompatible networks, for example. The related device for mutually converting the protocol data units in incompatible networks described in Patent Document 2 includes communication terminals, a communication network connecting to the communication terminals, a local area network connected to the communication network, and electronic apparatuses in the local area network. In such an environment, the device described in Patent Document 2, which is between the communication network and the local area network, bi-directionally converts and transmits apparatus identifiers, control instructions and valid control information, and allows the communication terminals to remotely control the electronic apparatuses in the local area network.
Patent Document 3 discloses one example of the related method allowing for an apparatus network of electronic apparatuses having different apparatus control protocols, for example. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an apparatus network configured by electronic apparatuses with different apparatus control protocols according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 1, according to the related method allowing for an apparatus network of the electronic apparatuses having different apparatus control protocols, an apparatus control device for each electronic apparatus has a virtual protocol providing unit 502, a virtual protocol execution unit 503, a virtual protocol transfer unit 504, and a virtual protocol conversion unit. The virtual protocol providing unit 502 receives generalized control information transmitted from a certain apparatus control application 501. The virtual protocol execution unit 503 interprets a virtual protocol for the received control information. The virtual protocol conversion unit 505 converts the received control information into a protocol that is actually used to control an electronic apparatus.
The operation of the related apparatus control device with the above configuration will be described. In case that the network includes a plurality of electronic apparatuses, the certain apparatus control application 501 sequentially executes different types of apparatus control protocols in parallel or serially. The apparatus control application 501 also extracts electronic apparatuses that are found as a result of executing processing according to the apparatus control protocols, and recognizes apparatus information such as IDs, model names and model numbers of the electronic apparatuses and network addresses. The apparatus control device shown in FIG. 1 uses information such as the apparatus information and network addresses to convert a virtual protocol including generalized control information into a control protocol specific to each electronic apparatus.
Patent Document 4 discloses one example of a related method of managing and controlling a network Plug and Play inadaptive device, for example. The related method of managing and controlling a network Plug and Play inadaptive device described in Patent Document 4 can be applied to a system including a network Plug and Play inadaptive electronic apparatus connected to a network, a control terminal and a proxy server. In such a system, the proxy server retains network information and apparatus information of the electronic apparatus. When a client (specifically, a personal computer (PC)) requests to control/manage network Plug and Play, the proxy server processes and responds to the control/management request in lieu of the electronic apparatus. The proxy server also uses a protocol specific to the electronic apparatus to control the electronic apparatus, as necessary. The proxy server can also search for network information and apparatus information of the electronic apparatus and collect the information by means such as an SNMP protocol.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 8-274835    Patent Document 2: National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2002-536914    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 2005-85238    Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 2005-309617